Child Care Centre Menu Planning Review Tool Instructions Please complete this tool, following the instructions below, before submitting to Wellington- Dufferin-Guelph Public Health for review by a registered dietitian (RD) free of charge. This tool will help you plan your child care centre menu and ensure it meets the current Day Nurseries Act nutrition standard. Upon review, if your menu meets the nutrition standard in the DNA, a registered dietitian will provide a letter stating this. Menus submitted without the completed tool will not be reviewed. Note: Menus will only be reviewed in January, February, September and October. If menus are received outside of these times, they will be held until the next review time. During review times, child care centres can expect a response to their submission, provided all forms are submitted accurately, within two weeks. If you require review of your menu outside of these times, a private practice consulting dietitian may review menus for a fee at any time. To find a private practice dietitian go to http://www.dietitians.ca/ and click on Find a Dietitian. If you have any questions, please contact: Heather Harvey MHSc, RD Public Health Nutritionist Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health 160 Chancellors Way Guelph, ON N1G 0E1 519-822-2715 x4275 heather.harvey@wdgpublichealth.ca Please follow these steps for successful submission of your menu: 1. Use your centre s current menu to fill in the Menu Template. Do this for the entire menu cycle. For example, if you have a four week cycle, you would fill in four different Menu Templates one for each week of your menu cycle. Instructions on how to complete the Menu Template are on page 2. 2. Once you have completed the menu template, complete the chart Does my menu meet the DNA nutrition standards? 3. Make any adjustments to the menus that are needed. 4. Submit your final templates, menu and cover sheet to Heather Harvey, Public Health Nutritionist by one of the following ways: a. email to heather.harvey@wdgpublichealth.ca, or b. mail to Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health, 160 Chancellors Way, Guelph ON N1G 0E1, or c. fax to 519-829-3028 Page 1
How to Complete the Menu Template Instructions 1. Fill in the week of the cycle for the menu at the top of the page (e.g. Week 1 of 4) along with your Child Care Centre s name. A sample is provided on page 4. 2. Fill in the template placing food and drinks from your menu in the appropriate food group according to Canada s Food Guide. For more information go to www.healthcanada.gc.ca/foodguide. Please include as much information as possible. For example, list mashed potato instead of potato. A sample is provided on page 4. 3. For mixed dishes (e.g. beef casserole), include the name of dish and list individual foods that are part of the dish in the food groups that they belong. For example, ground beef under meat, tomatoes, onion, mushrooms, peppers under vegetable, macaroni noodles under grains and grated cheese under milk products. 4. Be aware of serving size information when filling in the Menu Template. Ensure that you have the required serving size amounts available for each child. See What is a Serving Size on page 3. 5. Foods that are not part of Canada s Food Guide are listed under Other. This includes foods/drinks such as water, jam, cream cheese, cake etc. 6. Ensure each snack has foods from at least two food groups. 7. Ensure lunch has food from all four food groups and has both a vegetable and a fruit. 8. Add up the number of servings of each food group offered during the day. 9. Ensure required number of servings from each food group is met for the entire day. a. Vegetables and Fruit - 3-4 servings b. Grain Products 3-4 servings c. Milk and 2 servings d. Meat and 1-2 servings Page 2
What is a serving size? The following amounts are considered a serving size when calculating the amounts need to meet DNA. The serving size ranges from ½ of the size listed in Canada s Food Guide to a full serving according to Canada s Food Guide. This is the amount that you have to have available for a child and will vary based on the age of the child, the food being served and the daily menu. Please note that the child may choose to eat more or less than this amount, which is completely acceptable. You may choose to offer more than one serving from a food group at a meal or snack. For example, a half a sandwich made with a full slice of bread counts as one to two grain servings. Food Group Vegetables and Fruit Grain products Milk and Meat and Examples of one serving for children 1-6 years old ¼ - ½ cup (60-125 ml) cut up vegetable or fruit ½ - 1 medium whole fruit or vegetable ½ - 1 cup (125-250 ml) leafy greens ½ - 1 slice bread ¼ - ½ bagel, tortilla, pita ¼ - ½ cup (60-125 ml) rice, cooked pasta, couscous ⅓ - ¾ cup (80-125 ml) cooked cereal 15-30 grams cold cereal 15-30 grams crackers ½ - 1 cup milk or fortified soy beverage ⅓ - ¾ cup yogurt or cottage cheese 25-50 grams cheese 30-60 grams or ¼ - ½ cup meat, fish, poultry 75-150 grams or ⅓ - ¾ cup tofu 1-2 eggs ¼ cup + 2 tbsp hummus or bean dip 1-2 no-nut butter (e.g. soynut or sunflower seed butter) ⅓ - ¾ cup legumes such as kidney beans, black beans 2-4 tablespoons seeds Page 3
What Food Should I Serve? Daily Choices: Vegetables Fruit Grain Products Milk & Meat & All fresh and frozen All fresh and frozen *Whole grain options should be served 2% or 1% milk (children over 2) Lean beef, pork, lamb Canned, no 100% fruit most often 3.25% milk Skinless chicken, salt added juice Bread, rolls, (children 1-2) turkey Salsa Canned, in bagels, English Yogurt (plain or Lean ground meat Vegetable juice muffins flavoured) Fresh, frozen, soups (low Pita or Naan bread Cheese canned fish sodium) Tortillas Cottage cheese Legumes Pasta, brown rice, Milk-based soup Eggs couscous, quinoa Fortified soy Tofu Low-sugar beverage Peanut butter or breakfast cereals Smoothies other nut butters Low-sodium Kefir No-nut butters crackers (soy butter, Homemade whole SunButter etc.) grain muffins, Hummus or other loaves, biscuits, bean dips scones Pancakes, waffles Occasional Choices (no more than one choice per week per group): Vegetables Fruit Grain Products Milk & Meat & Vegetables in Canned, in Homemade Frozen yogurt Processed, lean a sauce syrup cookies Chocolate milk luncheon meats Dried fruit Granola bars Milk pudding and cold cuts (on its own) Graham crackers, Milk shakes (turkey, ham, roast Fruit crisps arrowroot cookies Processed cheese beef, chicken) Fruit Store-bought/from slices and spreads Cooked ham cobblers a mix muffins, Back bacon loaves, scones Choices to Limit (no more than one choice per month per group): Extras Grain Products Milk and Meat and Gravy Cakes, pastries, Ice cream and ice Side bacon Syrup, honey commercially prepared cream novelties Commercial fish sticks cookies Sherbet and chicken nuggets Granola bars with chocolate Sweetened cereal These foods are NOT to be served in child care centres: Weiners, hot dogs or sausages Snack foods such as potato chips, cheesies, nacho chips or other salty snacks Donuts French fries Jell-O Fruit drinks or pop Page 4
SAMPLE Menu Template Week 1 of 4 Centre: ABC Child Care Centre Menu Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Morning Snack (Must include food from at least 2 food groups) Vegetables and Fruit Grain Products ¼ c apple slices ½ banana ¼ c pineapple chunks ¼ whole wheat bagel 15 g Multi-grain Cheerios ½ slice whole wheat toast ¼ c blueberries ¼ orange 15 g granola Blueberry muffin (whole grain medium size) Milk and ½ c plain yogurt Meat and Other Cream cheese jam water water Lunch (must include food from all groups) Vegetables Fruit Grain Products Milk and Meat and Tomatoes, onions, peppers, mushrooms (in casserole) ¼ cup total ¼ c Steamed broccoli Watermelon slices (1/2 c) ¼ c egg noodles (in casserole) Ground beef casserole 35 g lean ground beef Carrot sticks Cucumber slices ½ c total ½ c peppers, snow peas, carrots in stir-fry ½ c grape tomatoes, broccoli, celery sticks ½ c baked potato wedges ¼ c corn ¼ c grapes 1 kiwi ¼ pear ¼ c strawberries ½ tortilla (whole wheat) Shredded cheese Dirt Wraps 1/3 c black bean spread ¼ c brown rice 1 small whole ½ slice whole wheat bun wheat bread Chicken stir-fry ¼ c chicken breast Other Salsa for dipping Sweet and sour sauce Snack (must include food from at least 2 groups) Vegetables and Fruit Grain Products 15 g whole grain crackers 1 brown rice cake 15 g whole grain crackers Mini turkey burgers 35 g lean turkey burger Yogurt dip Mustard, ketchup ¼ c applesauce ¼ pita (whole grain) baked with cinnamon Fish sticks and potato wedges 35 g baked fish sticks margarine 15 g Shreddies Milk and 25 g cheddar cheese Meat and 2 Tbsp hummus 1 Tbsp nut butter Other Water Water Water Total Servings Required Veg/Fruits (3-4) 4 3 3 4 4 Grains (3-4) 3 4 3 4 3 Milk & Alt (2) 2 2 3 3 2 Meat & Alt (1-2) 1.5 1 1 1 1 Page 5
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